National Literacy Trust - Programme Delivery

Programme Delivery

The National Literacy Trust runs a number of projects and networks and works with a range of professionals to deliver support for the development of literacy skills. Working with schools, libraries and football clubs, it runs a number of initiatives to motivate and inspire more reluctant readers, as well as a book-gifting programme that targets children, young people and their families in disadvantaged areas.

These programmes include a sport based project which promotes good literacy skills through the medium of sport in this case football . It targets the hardest to reach in the community who have a passion for football but might not have the same for reading. These programmes promote literacy in different ways, one being online literacy tasks designed by literacy professionals and delivered by Premier League stars. There are also other initiatives which are designed to get reluctant readers interested in literacy through the use of inspirational peer influence. The schools recruit boys who then encourage other boys to read, there is a bronze, silver and gold certificate awarded which helps to keep the boys motivated as well as providing a sense of achievement.

Programmes designed to promote early promotion of literacy are also in place at the National Literacy Trust one such providing encouragement for parents to communicate with their babies from birth onwards. Talking and listening to young children helps them to develop good communication skills. This enables them to speak, read, write, listen, learn and socialize more effectively. This helps the child to develop good communication skills which are essential to leading a fulfilled, happy and prosperous life, it also enables the child to feel valued, building their confidence which in turn leads to a greater bond between parent and child. There are online resources which aim to provide a one stop shop for information, advice and free downloadable resources designed to get you and your child communicating as well as supporting early years professionals. The vision of the National Literacy Trust is that within ten years time they will have facilitated a positive cultural shift so that all children receive a stimulating start in life..

The literacy of young people is paramount in promoting good literacy. Another initiative promotes encouragement of reading for pleasure among disadvantaged children and young people. This is achieved by involving the children and helping them to develop skills such as choosing books and where to find books when the project is over. Inspirational literacy events are staged in which children, schools and libraries provide a link between reading and fun. As part of the project children are allowed to choose and keep books, which are often the first books the children have ever owned. The projects utilize the expertise of librarians and teachers in order to tailor the programme to the individual needs of the specific group of children. The participating children are also involved in the organisation of the programmes events in order to have as deep an impact on the children as possible. Teachers also benefit from the programme by developing an understanding of texts suitable for hard to reach pupils.

There is a network which works with both secondary and primary schools, special schools and Pupil Referral Units in order to improve literacy skills . This network encourages schools to stage events such as asking a sports star to speak about reading and writing. The network supports educational professionals to raise standards of literacy within their schools. This is achieved by providing literacy resources and schools can apply to use the "Working with the National Literacy Trust" logo. There are also exciting competitions every term focused around a specific area of literacy. The most up to date one being focused on speaking skills. Included in membership of this network are online audits which help to assess the particular schools literacy along with a pupil profiling tool which aims to profile individual pupils as well as advice on how to get children reading.

A leadership network is also in place which provides consultants, lead teachers, librarians, advanced skills teachers and other leaders in literacy the chance to network, share ideas and best practice. Set up in partnership with Lifeworlds Learning the network aims to promote the sharing of ideas and the support of literacy professionals by each other for each other. Community and collaboration are the key elements to this network. Membership of this network provides: articles and links to news relevant to the literacy sector, articles and commentaries by National Literacy Trust staff, notification of events and courses in the individuals area, reviews of new resources to support leadership in literacy and access to online forums, discussion and the opportunity to network.

A network which provides provision and resources for professionals working with children under five including: childminders, playgroups, Children's Centres, Pre-School and Nurseries is also in place. Membership of this network enables professionals to access resources, case studies and ideas designed to raise the profile of language and literacy. These are released every month along with a practical new resource exclusively for members. The resources are designed by professionals who are working in the field of early years. As above there are also online evaluation tools in order to review the language and literacy provision of individual settings along with advice and strategies on how to improve provision both for settings and individuals.

A new programme has been designed to give young people the skills to succeed in the workplace, a speaking and listening programme it enables young people to develop their communication skills by interaction with business volunteers who pass on the skills they have developed during their working lives. This interaction stimulates thought and discussion around communication and how this will benefit young people in the future. The business volunteers act as positive role models and are able to utilize their own skills to empower the young people. By doing this the project enables business volunteers to enhance their own professional development. This in turn enables young people to obtain interview skills as well as the ability to communicate effectively in the workplace.

Working in partnership with other organisations National Literacy Trust provide projects including one which incorporates changes to the menu of Little Chef. Little Chef These changes aim to promote enjoyment of reading amongst young people while they are travelling, The publisher Puffin is also involved in this initiative as they share the National Literacy Trusts goal of wanting children to have fun while at the same time promoting literacy. Puffin Books The partnership between the three organisations looks to be an exciting and innovative way of encouraging children to read.